RI tentative on ASEAN's counter-terrorism convention

Lilian Budianto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 06/06/2008 9:47 AM  |  World

Indonesia is having second thoughts about ratifying the ASEAN Convention on Counterterrorism, arguing key elements in the convention already exist in national law, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said Thursday.

"We are discussing whether it is necessary to ratify international instruments if similar elements have already been included in national laws," said I Gede Ngurah Swajaya, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' politics and security director at the ministry.

He was speaking after closing a three-day ASEAN workshop on the counterterrorism convention in Jakarta.

Ngurah said the government had not submitted the convention to the House of Representatives for ratification.

The convention will take effect after at least six ASEAN members have ratified, but the grouping has not set a deadline. So far, only Singapore and Thailand have ratified.

The ASEAN Convention on Counterterrorism was drafted in Cebu, the Philippines in January 2007 during the 12th ASEAN Summit, following the ASEAN Declaration on Joint Action to Counter Terrorism and the Declaration on Terrorism adopted at the ASEAN Summits in 2001 and 2002 respectively.

Once in force, the convention will require ASEAN countries to take agreed measures against terrorism and prevention schemes, including sharing information, exercise criminal jurisdiction in investigations and trials and prisoner extradition.

Ngurah said no ASEAN members had any crucial reservations about the convention because they had all agreed to cooperate in combating terrorism, but a number of technical issues remained.

The three-day ASEAN workshop aimed to form an action plan for the convention for when it comes into force. Ngurah said ASEAN members would convene again on June 16th in Kuala Lumpur for further discussion.

ASEAN consists of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

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